Southern Jewish Life, Deep South, February 2020

Southern Jewish Life

BETH SHALOM IN BATON ROUGE CELEBRATES 75TH ANNIVERSARY Feb./March 2020 Volume 30 Issue 2

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

shalom y’all One of the more interesting arguments against the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace vision is that there were no representatives of the Palestinians at the table. Even many Jewish groups have made that part of their opposition to the plan.

Exactly which Palestinian leaders have demonstrated a willingness to negotiate an end to the conflict and deliver on a peace agreement? Certainly none who have been in power to date.

For years, those seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians have sought to preserve 1967 in amber, so the Palestinians could get what everyone has always assumed is their goal — an end to the occupation, statehood up to the pre-1967 armistice lines (they were never intended to be borders), eastern Jerusalem. Settlements — Israeli towns in the territories and neighborhoods around Jerusalem — were seen as an obstacle to the Palestinian demand to redline all Jews out of their future state (which somehow isn’t a moral problem for their otherwise progressive activists).

So many people who are otherwise of good will protest the “occupation,” thinking that is what the Palestinian leadership wants.

Years ago, Netanyahu froze the settlements in response to Palestinian demands. The Palestinians still refused to come to the table, whining about the settlements after the freeze expired. They are still refusing to sit down and negotiate or even present their own plan.

The Palestinian leadership has shown, time and time again, that 1967 is just an appetizer. The goal is to replace Israel in its entirety. What else does the chant “from the river to the sea” mean? What else can it mean when the Palestinian leaders reject proposals that give them what the people of good will assume they want, only to have it rejected and to have them assert they will never accept the concept of a Jewish state in any square inch between said river and sea?

As for the multi-ethnic Palestinian state that is envisioned by some in the peace crowd, does anyone honestly think that will work out well? Just ask the dwindling Christian popcontinued on next page

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i n s u r a n c e s February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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commentary

MESSAGES

Maccabi USA leader praises Birmingham Games I have had the honor of attending many Maccabi competitions around the world. From Israel ulation currently under Palestinian rule, youJCCconflict —games and their personal cashStates flows — to Australia to South America, Europe andifthe Maccabi around the United can Canada, get themI have to speak freely.

If Gaza an impoverished and logged many miles seeing howgoing. sports can be aisvehicle to help buildbackwater, Jewish For too long, the Palestinian identity, especially in our young. leadership’s how (and why) is Hamas’ leader a billionaire? maximalist demands have been entertained Much of the Arab world has long since tired I felt honored to come to Birmingham for the first time and fell in love with not just the city and excused. If only Israel will give more… of the Palestinian leadership, and how they but the people. You have taken Southern hospitality to a new level with your kind and caring The Trump plan resets the parameters, continue to refuse to help their people while approach to the JCC Maccabi Games. stating that the world has had enough of depending on the international community Led by theleaders Sokol and Helds, hard-working volunteers They partnered Palestinian tilting at your the windmill of to aid theirwere Swisswonderful. bank accounts… er, the perwith your outstanding staff, led by Betzy Lynch, to make the 2017 JCC Maccabi games a huge hit. eliminating Israel, and failure to be serious secuted Palestinians.

Iabout want to take this opportunity as executive director of USA to say thank onto behalf negotiating an end to the conflict will, In Maccabi an era when Israelis can you travel Saudi of involved. foreveryone once, have consequences in terms of what Arabia and Bahrain sentences someone to they may bereturned able to secure in 20th the future. prison for in burning an Israeli flag, whenofGulf I had just from the World Maccabiah games Israel with a U.S. delegation For1100, once, incentivizes the Palestinian realizing thatinthe fuelofindustry over whoitjoined 10,000 Jewish athletes fromstates 80 countries.

Back Julyfossil the eyes the entireis leadership do something their onThis the past wanemonth and they diversify Jewish worldtowere on Jerusalemfor and the people Maccabiah. withneed 1000 to athletes andin the — and makes it obvious to all but the willfully way Israel has, the old dynamic with the Palescoaches from around the world being in Birmingham, you became the focal point. blind when they refuse. tinians no longer works.

Everyone fromthey the Jewish community the community large,vision including a wonderful Why should end the conflict?and They Will the at Trump work?

Who knows… police to be commended.

These games will being and a seminal have aforce, greatare(for them) kleptocracy, making butgoatdown least in it ishistory more as realistic doesn’t put moment for billionaires the Jewish community we buildofto the providing suchto wonderful Jewish the leaders through allasmanner thefuture entireby burden on Israel give more while memories. corruption. It is better for them to keep the expecting less of the Palestinian leaders.

Jed Margolis Executive Director, Maccabi USA

On Charlottesville Editor’s Note: This reaction to the events in Charlottesville, written by Jeremy Newman, Master of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Theta Colony at Auburn University, was shared by AEPi National, which called it “very eloquent” and praised “our brothers at AEPi Theta Colony at Auburn University and… the leadership they display on their campus.”

White supremacy has been a cancer on our country since its beginning, threatening its hopes, its values, and its better angels.

The events that took place in Charlottesville represented the worst of this nation. Those who marched onto the streets with tiki torches and swastikas did so to provoke violence and fear. Those who marched onto the streets did so to profess an ideology that harkens back to a bleaker, more wretched time in our history.

A time when men and women of many creeds, races, and religions were far from equal and far from safe in our own borders. A time where Americans lived under a constant cloud of racism, anti-Semitism and pervasive hate. The events that took place in Charlottesville served as a reminder of how painfully relevant these issues are today.

Auburn’s Alpha Epsilon Pi stands with the Jewish community of Charlottesville, and with the Jewish people around the country and around the world. We also stand with the minorities who are targeted by the hate that was on display in Charlottesville. We stand with the minorities of whom these white 4 February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

supremacists would like to see pushed back into a corner and made to feel lesser. We stand with and pray for the family of Heather Heyer, who was there standing up to the face of this hate.

We recognize the essence of the American narrative as a two-century old struggle to rid ourselves of such corners, and allow those in them the seat at the table that they so deserve.

It is the struggle to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal… endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” We know our work is far from finished, but we know we will not move backwards.

When men and women, fully armed, take to the streets in droves with swastikas and other symbols of hate, it is a reminder of how relevant the issues of racism and anti-Semitism are today. It is a wake-up call to the work that needs to be done to ensure a better, more welcoming country. But it should not come without a reflection on how far we’ve come.

America was born a slave nation. A century into our history we engaged in a war in part to ensure we would not continue as one. We found ourselves confronted by the issue of civil rights, and embarked on a mission to ensure the fair treatment of all peoples no matter their skin color. Although we’ve made great strides, it is a mission we’re still grappling with today.

America was also born an immigrant country. As early as the pilgrims, many groups and families found in the country the opportunity to plant stakes, chase their future, and be themselves. Few were met with open

January 2020 February 2020

Southern Jewish Life PUBLISHER/EDITOR Lawrence M. Brook editor@sjlmag.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING Lee J. Green lee@sjlmag.com V.P. SALES/MARKETING, NEW ORLEANS Jeff Pizzo jeff@sjlmag.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ginger Brook ginger@sjlmag.com SOCIAL/WEB Emily Baldwein connect@sjlmag.com PHOTOGRAPHER-AT-LARGE Rabbi Barry C. Altmark deepsouthrabbi.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rivka Epstein, Louis Crawford, Tally Werthan, Stuart Derroff, Belle Freitag, Ted Gelber, E. Walter Katz, Doug Brook brookwrite.com BIRMINGHAM OFFICE P.O. Box 130052, Birmingham, AL 35213 14 Office Park Circle #104 Birmingham, AL 35223 205/870.7889 NEW ORLEANS OFFICE 3747 West Esplanade, 3rd Floor Metairie, LA 70002 504/432-2561 TOLL-FREE 866/446.5894 FAX 866/392.7750 ADVERTISING Advertising inquiries to 205/870.7889 for Lee Green, lee@sjlmag.com Jeff Pizzo, jeff@sjlmag.com Media kit, rates available upon request SUBSCRIPTIONS It has always been our goal to provide a large-community quality publication to all communities of the South.

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Documenting this community, a community we are members of and active within, is our passion.

We love what we do, and who we do it for.

agenda interesting bits & can’t miss events Members of Beth Shalom in Baton Rouge worked on a Tree of Life stained glass art project on Jan. 11 as part of the congregation’s 75th anniversary celebration. The installation, by local artist Susan Arnold, is located at the congregation’s main entrance. Story, page 9.

Danny Cohn named new CEO of Birmingham Jewish Federation The Birmingham Jewish Federation announced that Danny Cohn will be the agency’s new Chief Professional Executive Officer, starting March 8. He succeeds Richard Friedman, who retired in December after leading the Federation for 37 years.

Since 2015, Cohn has been director of marketing and communications for the Arbor Day Foundation in Omaha, where he developed two national annual programs that netted revenue of over $1 million.

Cohn has almost two decades of experience as a strategic leader in marketing, operations, fundraising, branding, public relations and social media for integrated marketing agencies and national foundations. He led integrated marketing teams at Zeno Group in Chicago and Strata-G in Cincinnati. He also led the development and execution of Allstate Foundation’s Purple Purse Initiative, to raise funds and awareness surrounding domestic violence and financial abuse.

A native of Omaha, Cohn returned to Omaha for the Arbor Day position, and has been very active as a lay leader in the Jewish community.

He relaunched the Ben Gurion Society at the Jewish Federation of Omaha, where he successfully engaged a large group of new young adult donors. He was also the board chair of the Anti-Defamation League’s Plains States Region,

where he was responsible for raising funds to support ADL nationally, and also the Jewish community of Omaha’s Community Relations Committee.

Cohn said while his work has been in the professional and non-profit realms, “my passion was Jewish communal service, and I was very lucky that there was this opportunity in Birmingham.”

While his involvement in the Jewish non-profit world has been as a lay leader, not a professional, “Federation has been a part of me since I was a teenager,” when he was president of AZA in Omaha, for the Mother Chapter that started the entire organization in 1924. “BBYO gave me such an amazing foundation for Jewish communal service work,” he said.

His first trip to Israel was on a Federation College Cabinet mission. “I feel like I have been living Federation my entire life.”

Cohn said he sensed that “Birmingham is a very special place and felt like home immediately during our first visit — we instantly knew we wanted to be part of the community.”

He said Birmingham and Omaha have similar sized Jewish communities, and “Birmingham is set up to become a future model for Federations across the country.”

In taking the position, Cohn said “the community itself was the main attraction.” He saw

Danny Cohn, left, daughter Nora and husband Andrew Miller. how the Federation, over the last couple of years with Reimagine Jewish Birmingham, has “done a really amazing job to harness the community together and decide what they want the future to be,” and have it be an intergenerational consensus.

“The next generation has grand plans, and it’s refreshing to see everyone working together toward a common vision,” he said. continued on page 17 February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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LimmudFest New Orleans announces speaker lineup for March 20 weekend Tulane University alumnus and nationally renowned author Rich Cohen will be one of the featured presenters at LimmudFest New Orleans 2020, which will be March 20 to 22.

Over 90 presenters from the New Orleans area, around the region and from across the nation will speak on a wide range of subjects at the weekend of learning. Presentations are done in a variety of educational styles — lectures, workshops, text-study sessions, film, meditation, discussions, exhibits and performance — ac- Rich Cohen cessible to everyone, no matter what their level of Jewish knowledge or commitment to Jewish life.

LimmudFest is held in New Orleans every two years. At the 2018 weekend festival, nearly 400 people participated in Big Tent Jewish learning, arts, culture and spirituality. LimmudFest is part of a global movement inspired by the idea that when Jews from diverse backgrounds come together to celebrate and learn about everything Jewish, the entire community is enriched.

“Wherever you find yourself, Limmud will take you one step further on your Jewish journey,” says Dana Keren, chair of LimmudFest 2020.

The weekend begins with registration at Gates of Prayer in Metairie, starting at 5:30 p.m. on March 20. After candlelighting at 6:45 p.m., there will be Conservative, Orthodox, Reform and Reconstructionist services under the same roof, followed by a joint Shabbat dinner at 8:15 p.m. and a Shabbat Tisch at 9:30 p.m.

After the different Shabbat morning services at Gates of Prayer on March 21, there will be a Shabbat lunch at 11:45 a.m. Sessions begin at 12:45 p.m., lasting for an hour with a 15-minute break in between, until 7 p.m. At 7:15 p.m. there will be Havdalah and a Melave Malka.

The sessions resume at 9 a.m. on March 22 at the Uptown JCC, breaking for lunch at 12:30 p.m. and continuing from 1:30 p.m., with the final sessions starting at 4 p.m.

Cohen wrote the New York Times bestsellers “Tough Jews;” “Monsters;” “Sweet and Low;” “When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead (with Jerry Weintraub);” “The Sun & the Moon & the Rolling Stones;” “The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse;” and “The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship A Killer and the Birth of a Gangster Nation.” He is a co-creator of the HBO series “Vinyl.”

Cohen will present two topics during LimmudFest. “Israel Is Real” discusses his obsessive quest to understand the Jewish nation and its history, from the reinvention following the destruction of the Second Temple to modern days. Cohen will elucidate Jewish religious, cultural, and political history through quirky anecdotes.

Cohen’s second topic will be “Sam Zemurray: The Fish That Ate the Whale,” about how Samuel Zemurray arrived in America penniless in 1891, but when he died in the grandest house in New Orleans 69 years later, he was among the richest, most powerful men in the world. Cohen will relate how Zemurray worked as a fruit peddler, a banana hauler, a dockside hustler and a plantation owner. He battled and conquered the United Fruit Company, becoming a symbol of the best and worst of the United States: proof that America is the land of opportunity, but also a classic example of the corporate pirate who treats foreign nations as the backdrop for his adventures. The Banana Man was also instrumental in the emergence of the State of Israel.

Other subject areas during LimmudFest include arts and culture, con-

agenda temporary Jewish life and identity, food, history, Israel, music, social justice, the Southern Jewish experience, wellness and spirituality, and text study.

“Jewish Pride Through Sports” will feature Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans CEO Arnie Fielkow and Maccabi USA President Jeff Bukantz, along with former Maccabi athletes, talking about how the Maccabi Games have become the third largest sporting event in the world.

Josh Parshall, director of the history department of the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, will give “Southern Jewish History on One Foot.” Hattiesburg native Leon Waldoff, professor emeritus of English at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, will discuss “Jewish Civil Rights in Mississippi,” focusing on Rabbi Charles Mantinband of Hattiesburg, and his brother-in-law, Adolph Botnick, who headed the New Orleans office of the ADL during the 1960s and was targeted for assassination by Byron de la Beckwith.

Tamara Kreinin of the Packard Foundation will speak on the role Jewish women have played in fighting for reproductive rights, as she states “Louisiana is now ground zero for women’s rights in the United States” as the Supreme Court hears challenges to Roe v. Wade.

Jon Greene, artistic director of New Orleans’ Radical Buffoons, will lead “Pretty Pretty Pretty Funny,” about the Jewish relationship with humor.

There will also be programming for children and teens.

The festival is planned entirely by volunteers, and all speakers volunteer their time. All food at LimmudFest is kosher, and meals and snacks are included in the registration fee.

Early bird passes were being sold through Feb. 20, after which rates will go up. Early-bird rates are $85 for adult weekend passes, and $60 for an adult Sunday-only pass. Children’s passes are $18, and there is a $180 Limmud Builder pass “for the mensch who wants to help LimmudFest sustain and grow,” covering the true individual cost for the weekend and helping subsidize the weekend for those who couldn’t otherwise afford it.

The entire schedule and list of speakers is available at limmudnola.org, along with a registration link.

ISJL seeks input on regional needs Jackson-based group celebrates 20th anniversary As the Jackson-based Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life celebrates its 20th anniversary, the agency is looking for input about its programs and the needs of communities around the region.

The Institute began on Feb. 13, 2000, with five staffers and an idea to provide regional Jewish services and support to communities in the South, no matter how small. Today, the Institute has two dozen professionals serving over 100 Jewish communities in 13 Southern states.

The Institute developed a standardized cross-denominational religious school curriculum that can be adapted for schools with six students or hundreds. The Institute also coordinates educational programs, cultural events and more, and provides rabbinical services to communities too small to have a resident rabbi.

A recent Institute program brought the Jewish Women’s Theatre of Los Angeles to several communities in the South last year. The group has already secured funding to return to the region and visit more communities this year.

“The ISJL is part of so many great stories,” says Michele Schipper, the ISJL’s Chief Executive Officer. “And our own story is ongoing. We’re excited to be preparing for a strategic planning process, and digging in to discover what our next chapter will look like.”

The Institute has already embarked on a Listening Tour around the region, holding focus groups to assess community needs. In March, a Survey of Southern Jewish Life will be available on the website so individuals around the region can weigh in.

The Institute is also about to launch a challenge grant campaign.

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agenda At its annual meeting on Jan. 17, the Historic Natchez Foundation presented a Special Merit Award to the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life for its work on Temple B’nai Israel. Founded in 1843, B’nai Israel is the oldest Jewish congregation in the state. Down to a handful of members, the congregation partnered with ISJL to preserve and restore the 1906 building. Last year, a wheelchair access ramp was completed, along with stabilization of the roof and dome.

The electrical system is next on the list, and when restoration is complete, the building will be open as an event space and museum to the Jewish legacy of Natchez.

Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El will have its Diamonds and Denim Gala on March 14 at 6:30 p.m. The event “with something for every generation” will include a dinner catered by Kathy G. with a complimentary full bar, dancing to the Austin-based Brian Turner Band’s Rockabilly Deluxe Show, and a silent auction. There will also be a musical Bingo led by Little Memphis and Friends.

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B’nai Israel in Monroe will have a special Shabbat service of conversion on March 13. For the past year, Rabbi Judy Caplan Ginsburgh has been working with seven people who will be formally welcomed into the Jewish community at the 6 p.m. service. An oneg will follow, sponsored by the Sisterhood.

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The annual Huntingdon College Night at Temple Beth Or in Montgomery will be on March 6. Rabbi Scott Looper will make a presentation in the sanctuary at 5 p.m., followed by the Shabbat service. There will also be a visiting group from Westchester Reform Temple.

On March 20 at 7:30 p.m., Temple Beth-El in Anniston will have its annual Neighbors Night interfaith Shabbat service, followed by an oneg. The program is in memory of Bette and Hank Saks.

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Temple Beth El in Pensacola will host two grief workshops, with the idea that grief “comes in many different shapes and forms,” from losing a job to losing a loved one. Don Winslett, a licensed psychologist and ordained pastor who heads the Center for Clergy Care and Education, will lead the March 5 and 12 workshops, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., discussing better self-care and care for others. A light dinner will be served, and reservations are requested to the Beth El office.

Beth Israel in Gulfport will hold a Passover Seder fundraiser open to the greater community, March 21 at Florence Gardens’ Magnolia Hall. Rabbi Hillel Norry will teach about Passover foods and symbols, and how the holiday relates to Christianity. The event time and registration information will be announced soon.

This year, the Jewish Federation of Central Alabama is holding its first Holocaust essay competition for middle school and high school students in Montgomery County. The purpose of the essay competition is to promote an understanding of the Holocaust among the youth. There are monetary prizes for educational purposes for essay winners as well as for teachers under whose auspices winning essays are submitted. Essays are due by March 10, and the presentation will be on April 21.

There will be a Red Cross blood drive at Birmingham’s Levite Jewish Community Center, March 9, from noon to 5 p.m.

The Mobile Trialogue will have “Three Rabbis: Similarities and Contrasts,” featuring Mobile’s three rabbis, on Feb. 27. The program will be held at Spring Hill College at 6:30 p.m. at the LeBlanc Confercontinued on page 19

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Baton Rouge’s Beth Shalom looks forward on 75th anniversary On the weekend of Jan. 10, Baton Rouge’s younger congregation, Beth Shalom, celebrated its 75th anniversary with the present and the past.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, spent Shabbat with the congregation, and Rabbi Bernard Baskin, who served the congregation over 70 years ago, sent a video greeting recalling his formative years in Baton Rouge.

Rabbi Natan Trief, who has served Beth Shalom since 2016, spoke of the significance of the number 75, quoting from Psalm 75 and starting the service on page 75. As Trief lives in Atlanta where his wife, Rabbi Samantha Shabman Trief, serves at Temple Sinai, he also joked that 75 is “the number of round-trip flights I take to Baton Rouge every year.”

Jacobs said there were four reasons why he was in Baton Rouge. “This is a flagship of our Reform movement. We’re not just in the big cities or on coasts.”

There was also a personal connection, as Jacobs was the childhood rabbi of Samantha Trief and officiated at her installation in Atlanta. Natan Trief said at the installation dinner, he sat with Jacobs and “said something tongue in cheek, mostly kidding, ‘you know now that you have come to visit Samantha at her synagogue in Atlanta, you need to come visit me at my synagogue in Baton Rouge’.”

Expecting him to shrug it off, Trief said that instead, Jacobs “turned to me and looked me straight in the eyes and said… we’ll find a way to make it happen.”

Jacobs added that “The Marks also asked,” current president Mark Posner and immediate past president Mark Hausmann.

The fourth reason, Jacobs said, was that Beth Shalom is on the cutting edge of Reform Jewish life. Referencing his purple tallis, he said “I had to be here… where else would I wear my LSU tallis?”

He added, “I wear my LSU tallis wherever I go. Most people don’t know it is an LSU tallis.” And noting the national championship game that was three days away, he urged, “just keep praying.”

For most smaller communities with two congregations, one is Reform and one is Conservative, with the Conservative one likely having started out Orthodox. In Baton Rouge, both congregations are Reform.

Baskin recalled that when Beth Shalom started in 1945, B’nai Israel, which was established in 1858, “was one of a few congregations that felt assertion of interest in Israel was contrary to (being) American first” and support of a Jewish homeland would bring questions of dual loyalty.

While in the early 20th century, the Reform movement as a whole had not been in favor of a Jewish nation, that began to shift to neutrality in 1937 with the adoption of the Columbus Platform. Many Reform congreFebruary 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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gations, though, remained anti-Zionist, joining the American Council of Judaism.

In April 1945, B’nai Israel Rabbi Walter Peiser and the congregational president sent out a letter stating that the congregation supported the Classical Reform position on Zionism, and “our nation is America and our religion is Judaism.”

All officers and board members of B’nai Israel had to pledge that they rejected the idea of a Jewish homeland.

In response, a group of 29 families broke away and formed their own congregation, Liberal Synagogue. Many were relative newcomers to Baton Rouge, and had not been comfortable with the Southern Classical Reform practices that eschewed kipot and talleisim.

When Liberal Synagogue was established, they allowed kippot and talleisim, and instituted the practice of Bar Mitzvah, which Reform congregations had replaced with Confirmation.

The congregation’s first home was on Acadian Thruway, moving to the current building in 1980.

In 1984, the Rayner Learning Center was established, providing a daily program for infants through pre-Kindergarten.

Before “my first experience in the South,” Baskin had served a large congregation in Den-

ver whose rabbi had been called into the service as a chaplain. Newly ordained, he then went to Baton Rouge in 1947.

In his video remarks, he said “One of the reasons I came is I was a loyal Zionist… Liberal Synagogue was making a natural and understandable protest at what they felt was an unfair and unnecessary outlook in terms of Israel.”

The new congregation “stood for something which had meaning for me and other Jews, and was a reason why I came to a relatively small place,” Baskin said.

He “was able to participate fully in the life of the general community. I did a great deal of interfaith work, I belonged to the ministerial association… I had a radio program.”

He also was visited by a woman he had met in Denver, and they went to Mardi Gras together.

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community “On the way home on the bus I proposed to her.

She rather quickly accepted, which of course surprised me.” He and Marjorie were married in Denver, then he finished his time in Baton Rouge, moving to Temple Anshe Sholom in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1949 and building that congregation until his retirement in 1989. He will turn 100 in March.

Over the years, the two congregations’ names led to confusion for those new to Baton Rouge.

Many assumed that the congregation with the Hebrew name was more traditional, while the one with the “liberal” English name was further to the left. That led to the eventual name change in the 1980s, which was not without controversy.

Though the congregations remain separate, in recent years there have been more joint programs, and last year a pair of joint Shabbat services where Trief spoke at B’nai Israel and B’nai Israel Rabbi Jordan Goldson spoke at Beth Shalom.

There is now a Joint Synagogue Exploratory Committee, discussing a range of topics from merger, more joint programs but remaining two congregations, or maintaining the status quo.

B’nai Israel has always remained the larger congregation. Currently, B’nai Israel has 210 members and Beth Shalom has 144.

“I’m glad there seems to be a greater feeling of community effort” between the two congregations, Baskin said.

The change in Jewish life over the last 75 years was a common thread in the anniversary weekend, as were references to the weekly Torah portion, Vayechi, the final portion of the book of Genesis.

The change in Jewish life over the last 75 years was a common thread in the anniversary

Rabbi Rick Jacobs at Beth Shalom February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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community weekend, as were references to the weekly Torah portion, Vayechi, the final portion of the book of Genesis.

Posner reflected on Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim and Menashe in the weekly portion.

“When a grandparent blesses a grandchild, there is pure love.”

“Our grandparents, in a sense, as Beth Shalom

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

founders, blessed all of us, their children, with the gift of this special shul,” Posner said. “We did nothing to deserve this wonderful gift that our grandparents worked so hard to provide for us, it just dropped in our laps, and now it is time for us to provide for our grandchildren.”

Treif reflected on the changes of 75 years.

“Seventy-five years ago was the Shoah… in that same period we did not sink into a pit of sorrow.

We chose life. We joined together, we began a new synagogue as celebrated our people’s greatest triumph and miracle, the founding of the modern state of Israel.”

While today there are challenges such as antisemitism, “we do not allow the anti-Semites to define us as victims, but rather we stand as proud Jews in celebration. That is our response and it will forever be our response to the hateful cowards who crawl out from their holes from time to time.”

Jacobs spoke about adaptability in Judaism, and looking ahead to “where we are going.”

“You got to 75 because you were always ready to adapt,” Jacobs said.

“Those 29 families in 1945 that gathered together and got this thing going, could they have imagined the strength and vitality of this community? They had the faith and the hope and they set the journey on its course.”

He spoke of walking alongside an African-American and a Latino in New York recently, when the three of them approached a Chabad Mitzvah tank. The Chabadnik asked Jacobs if he is Jewish. While Jacobs praises the work Chabad does, he said that

showed “too many of us in the Jewish world have too narrow an understanding of who might be Jewish.”

In the 21st century, “I could easily have been the one person that was not Jewish… we are an incredibly diverse people” and it is a gift to the Jewish community’s future.

He also referenced outreach to the LGBTQ community, and said “interfaith families are an absolute pillar of our community.”

He urged continuing to open the tent through “audacious hospitality,” as “this Judaism that we live is attractive, it’s smart, it’s open, it’s real, it’s joyful.”

The anniversary also included a Shabbat lunch with Cajun favorites, including kosher gumbo, jambalaya and bread pudding. After lunch, Susan Arnold led a brief class in glass cutting, as congregants worked on the new Tree of Life that is being installed at the main entrance.

That evening, there was a Havdalah cocktail reception, with music by the Flying Balalaika Brothers.

The weekend of Aug. 21, there will be further events celebrating the anniversary, with Shabbat services, a dinner and show celebration on Aug. 22, and an Aug. 23 breakfast with a sofer who will be inspecting and repairing the congregation’s Torahs. The weekend is two weeks later than previously announced.

There is also an online celebration with a 75 Questions for 75 Years contest on the Beth Shalom website. As of press time, 25 questions had been posted, and the winner who answers the most questions correctly will be announced shortly after the 75th question is posted.

community Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s step-sister, to speak in Birmingham Eva Schloss, a childhood friend of Anne Frank’s who later became her step-sister, will be in Birmingham for “A Story of Triumph,” March 29 at Samford University’s Wright Center.

When Germany invaded Austria in 1938, 8-year-old Eva Geiringer was among those who fled. She moved to Belgium and then Holland with her brother and parents, and became friends with a neighbor, a German Jewish girl who was the same age, named Anne Frank.

After the Nazis invaded, both families went into hiding. For the Geiringers, the decision came when her brother, Heinz, received orders to report for a work detail. Hiding forced the family to live apart, Eva with her mother and Heinz with his father, with only a few treasured reunions.

In May 1944, on the day of Eva’s 15th birthday, the entire family was captured after being betrayed by a double agent in the Dutch Underground. As also happened with the Franks, the Geiringers were sent to Auschwitz where Eva was physically and spiritually devastated. When the Russian army liberated the camp in January 1945, Eva and her mother, both barely alive, were among a handful of survivors. They would eventually learn that her father and brother had not been so fortunate.

As is well known, Anne Frank died at Auschwitz.

Returning to Amsterdam following the war, Eva and her mother met up with Otto Frank, who was dealing with the loss of his family, and the discovery of Anne’s diary. In 1953, Eva’s mother married Frank, making Eva Anne’s step-sister. Eva had married Zev Schloss after moving to London in 1951.

Since 1985, Schloss has devoted herself to Holocaust education and global peace. She has recounted her wartime experiences in more than 1,000 speaking engagements. She has written three books and has had a play written about her life, “And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank.”

A co-founder of the Anne Frank Trust in Britain, in 1999 Schloss signed the Anne Frank Peace Declaration along with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the niece of Raoul Wallenberg, a legendary figure who rescued thousands of Jews in Budapest.

The evening is presented by Chabad of Alabama, with the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center as education partner.

The talk will begin at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m. Individual tickets are $40. Balcony and obstructed view seats are $20, student tickets are $15.

A VIP ticket includes prime seating and a signed copy of her book, “Eva’s Story.” Tickets may be purchased through evaschlossbhm.com.

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In Nov. 2018, Eva Schloss spoke to an overflow crowd of 600 at the Uptown Jewish Community Center in New Orleans, with Rabbi Yossie Nemes doing the interview.

February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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Shabbat goes Country Joe Buchanan brings Texas sound to his Jewish journey

Though Joe Buchanan is one of the more active figures in Jewish music these days, performing across the country three weeks per month, he came to the field with very little background in Jewish music.

Or Judaism, for that matter.

At a synagogue early in his musical career, the Texas native said he made the egregious error of responding to the query “do you know any Debbie Friedman” compositions with “who?”

For the last several years, though, Buchanan has been a quick study since Judaism basically fell into his lap. He will spend the weekend of Feb. 28 performing in Dothan and leading a workshop, “Choosing to be Chosen,” about becoming Jewish and “some of the struggles people go through when they choose this life.”

Buchanan has recorded two Judaic albums since his conversion in 2013, “Unbroken,” which tells the story of his “coming home” to Judaism, and the Southern roots “Back from Babylon.” His compositions combine country, roots-rock and folk, while highlighting the values, teachings and history of the Jewish people.

His odyssey began when he and his wife of 13 years, April, were on vacation in Washington, “None of us had been before, and we wanted to do the White House tour.” Also on their list was the Holocaust museum, and the spy museum next door.

He said the Holocaust museum “shakes everybody who goes through there” and “I think it touched something really deep in April,” because after-

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

community ward, she said she really wanted to know more about her people.

He was perplexed. “Who is that?” he asked.

“Who is ‘your people’,” to which she told him that she was Jewish. “When did you get Jewish?” he responded.

“I knew her mom was Jewish, I didn’t know that made her Jewish” he reflected. Upon learning that one is born Jewish, he then asked if their son knew.

Buchanan said when he grew up in the Houston area, he spent half of his time in the Texas Hill Country. He never heard anything antisemitic and also never met anyone who identified as Jewish. He “only heard about Jewish people two weeks in history class. I had no idea it was a thriving religion… All I know is there’s something about pork.”

Buchanan was raised by his grandparents until he was 6 years old. He said his grandfather’s view of religion was “you can see God in the world, in the way things work together” and what God wants is for you to do good things. He looked around and said there “seems to be some design here, do good stuff, that makes sense.”

When his parents took over raising him, “all talk of religion left the house.” He would occasionally go to church with friends “because I

would stay the night with them… I found things out, like you can’t ask questions in the middle of mass.”

He was “an inquisitive young person who is demanding some answers and not finding them anywhere.”

In church, “I kept hearing you’re damaged goods, not good enough for God as you are… you’re going to keep messing up. I did keep messing up, and I figured it was between me and God and we’d figure it out later,” he said.

He met April when he was 21 and working at a gaming store. “I lost my mind” when she walked in, he said. “I fell crazy in love.” He played her a tune and “we got married shortly thereafter. Music really works.”

He was still searching spiritually, and she would accompany him to various churches. But he noticed “she wouldn’t sing the prayers or say them, she wouldn’t do anything other than hold my hand. She never told me why.”

Then came the conversation in Washington and “I was blown away.”

When they got back to Houston, they figured “we need to get some real answers, we don’t know what we’re doing” and they showed up at Congregation Shaar Hashalom “because it was close.”

The three of them met Rabbi Stuart Fede-

row — who has also served congregations in Greenville, Rolling Fork and Clarksdale, Miss., and Monroe, La. — and Buchanan said “They’re Jewish, I’m not, and none of us know what it means.”

Federow replied, “There’s one God, and there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re loved

by God exactly as you are. You are part of the beauty and wonder of creation. We’re living the gift right now.” He added, “You do good because it brings more good to the world, not for some reward or punishment” later.

“He was talking like my grandfather,” Buchanan said. He knew immediately that he wanted to convert. When Federow told him he didn’t have to, he said “this was exactly what I’ve been looking for since I was a kid.”

Going through the process rekindled his dormant interest in music, as a way “to help me understand what I was going through.” Federow then offered him the opportunity to perform some of the tunes during services, which led to an acoustic Shabbat.

“I had no context of Jewish music,” he said. “I grew up on old country, classic rock. Those were all the influences coming into it.”

He travels the country doing performances and Shabbat experiences, often through the

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Jackson-based Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life.

“I want to do as much in the South as humanly possible,” he said, because he enjoys the history of the communities and hearing their stories. He said the Institute “ties communities together in ways that nobody else does as well.”

He has not been to Israel yet — but recently wrote a song, “Texas,” as a response to that question. It explores the concept of holy land and says “no matter where you are, it is the holiest place you can be.” He said the song has a “stripped-down barroom, Hank Williams Jr. feel to it. It will definitely be on the next album.”

He is currently working on music videos for each track of his latest album. “If I’m not on the road, we’re planning, shooting and casting.”

He approaches his compositions with a love for “that genuine country music sound” and tries “very hard to keep it focused on being authentic.”

Buchanan said it is important “to be able to say there are folks who are making Jewish music from Texas and doing it in a very Southern style.”

He also wants to do a lot more outreach to the faith communities in the military and in prisons, “do a musical Shabbat service in prisons and serve the community there.”

At an appearance at Fort Benning, there were 600 in attendance. “We sang, we prayed, we answered questions about Judaism.”

Those conversations are important to him, because “I was upset that I grew up and never met a Jewish person.” He wants to be a “lamplighter” because “a lot of people are looking for answers and don’t feel comfortable reaching out.”

He added, “we want to have a greater conversation with folks about what Judaism is about,” and how the Jewish community is approachable, whether or not one is seeking a new spiritual home. “I want to be part of that definition when people ask what it means to be Jewish.”

As he works to “set the table for more chairs and more conversations,” he also promotes Jewish celebration wherever he goes. He played South by Southwest, doing “the same music there that we do in shul,” and told the Friday night crowd that Shabbat was approaching. He asked them to shout back “Shabbos!” and launched into his version of “Shalom Aleichem.”

In Dothan, he will lead Shabbat services on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., then Feb. 29 at 10:30 a.m. His “Choosing to be Chosen” will be a lunch-and-learn at noon, one may bring their own lunch or reserve a lunch for $10 in advance.

At 7 p.m. on Feb. 29, he will do a concert of “Americana with a Jewish Soul” at Mural City Coffee Company. On March 1 at 11:30 a.m. he will do a concert for the religious school, with parents also welcome.

Cases for a Cause in Baton Rouge The Chabad of Baton Rouge Jewish Women’s Circle and Carolyn Bombet present Cases for a Cause, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. at The Guru.

The women’s gathering will be to decorate duffel bags for foster children, as most children who enter foster care generally receive two trash bags for their belongings.

The duffels will include a teddy bear, hygiene kit and blanket.

The evening will include a dinner buffet and wine tasting, and all proceeds will go to Together We Rise — Helping Children in Foster Care.

Tickets are $25, sponsorships are $50.

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

Corned Beef Sale Returns at Beth Shalom The annual corned beef sandwich sale at Beth Shalom in Baton Rouge will be March 15 to 17, with drive-thru only on March 15 and drive-thru or business delivery available on March 16 and 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Orders can be for corned beef, egg salad or tuna on rye, white or wheat.

Advance orders can be placed at bethshalomsynagogue.org. The $10 lunches include a sandwich, chips, brownie, dill pickle and mint.

community >> Federation

continued from page 5

To implement the plan, he “isn’t going to be able to do it alone,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to taking this journey together.”

The Federation’s announcement is the culmination of a nine-month search process co-chaired by Steve Greene and Jesse Unkenholz. Greene said “The Search Committee chose Danny Cohn because we felt he was the most inspirational candidate with the most progressive ideas to move our Federation and community forward.”

The Federation board unanimously ratified the choice. President Lisa Engel said Cohn “brings to our Federation a new vision of community-wide engagement along with creative strategies to involve donors of all ages in the important work of the BJF.” She said the Federation is “excited” to welcome him to Birmingham.

“In his visits, we experienced his excitement, his infectious enthusiasm and his passion for the work we do.”

While Cohn will arrive in early March, his husband, Andrew Miller, and their four-year-old daughter will remain in Omaha for a few weeks, to do much of the typical logistics needed when moving. Also, Cohn said, his daughter’s preschool “does a Seder that she has really been looking forward to.”

Miller works in the food industry, and is currently managing a restaurant group. That also makes Birmingham attractive. “We were in Chicago for 20 years, and when we got to Birmingham we started looking at the food scene,” Cohn said. “It felt like Chicago, the sophistication is so similar.”

Cohn said when he arrives, the first goal is to “meet as many people as I can,” including the rabbis, lay leaders, agency heads, “seeing how we can work together to transform the community.”

He wants to hear what people have to say, as “I am new to a community where people have been living a lifetime… you can’t come into a community or an organization and start doing anything until you know the community and start building trust.”

Engel added that Cohn and the Federation board “look forward to collaborating with all of the agencies and synagogues in our Jewish community to enrich the vibrancy of Jewish life at home and abroad.”

Music of Remembrance in Mobile Springhill Avenue Temple and the Gulf Coast Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education will present “An Alphabet of Soldiers: Sonia Landau’s Music of Remembrance,” March 1 at 4 p.m. at Springhill Avenue Temple.

The works were originally commissioned by Music of Remembrance, an organization that fills a unique role throughout the world by remembering the Holocaust through music.

Krystyna Zywulska was born Sonia Landau in Lodz, Poland, in 1914.

She escaped the Warsaw ghetto in 1941 and lived on the “Aryan” side of Warsaw, assisting other Jews in hiding until her arrest in 1943. In Birkenau she assumed the name Krystyna Zywulska and successfully hid her Jewish identity throughout her imprisonment. She worked in Kanada, which processed the goods confiscated from prisoners, and during roll calls she began to fill her time by composing poetry.

Lori Guy will outline the history and art of Zywulska. Piano and voice pieces present a miscellany of musical styles and periods. While the themes of “Another Sunrise” and “Farewell, Auschwitz” are grave, the poetry and music exhibit much flair and charm. Both pieces were written by Jake Heggie, and Gene Scheer did free translations of Zywulska’s poems for the lyrics The works will be performed by Kathryn Hedlund, Lori Guy, Patrick Jacobs and Christopher Powell.

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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community Jewish Electoral Geography: Birmingham connections to Michael Bloomberg Jon Rotenstreich grew up in Birmingham, attended the University of Alabama, then graduate school at the University of Chicago. He went to work for Salomon Brothers in Atlanta and was transferred to New York.

There he met another junior associate, Mike Bloomberg, beginning a friendship of over 50 years.

According to Rotenstreich, Bloomberg’s story is the classic American story. Bloomberg was from a modest middle class family — his dad was an accountant. Bloomberg worked his way through college and graduate school. He trained as an engineer, then went to work on Wall Street. He recognized immediately that the communications systems used in investment banking were inferior. Television screens that shared information were woefully underdeveloped. Bloomberg worked hard to upgrade what was currently available, motivating him to start his own firm.

Rotenstreich says Bloomberg has always been honest in his dealings, hired the best people, trained them well, created a culture of hard work and rewarded his valued employees.

Bloomberg believes in Tikkun Olam, acts of kindness to repair the

Color4Friendship Run on March 15 Friendship Circle of Alabama is raising awareness for individuals with special needs by holding its annual Color4Friendship Color Run. The one mile, untimed event will be on March 15 at 1:30 p.m. at the Levite Jewish Community Center’s soccer field and outdoor track. The Color Runners receive a white shirt, sunglasses and headband with their $15 registration. They are doused head to toe in different colors at different points throughout the mile. There will also be a color-free track.

At the end of the run, there will be a fair with music, color throws, inflatables and more.

The run is “to proclaim love, inclusion, and friendship for all people, regardless of any disability, emotional or physical, one may have.”

The Friendship Circle’s Mission is to provide children with special needs with a full range of social and recreational experiences, provide their parents with respite and support, enrich, inspire and motivate teens through sharing of themselves with others.

Alabama’s Friendship Circle was founded in 2012, and proceeds from the run help keep the programs free for participating families. Teens volunteer to be paired with peers who have special needs, including them in a range of activities.

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

world, seeing it as his obligation to give back since he has been so blessed by this country. A top American philanthropist, he is committed to the less fortunate as well as the system that provided the opportunity for his success.

Rotenstreich said “There is no finer person, no harder working JNS photo by Ralph Alswang via Flickr guy. He’s as honest as the day is long and surrounds himself with really good people. His father would be so proud not just of the success but of the effort to use that success to make the world a better place. I’m proud to do whatever I can to help elect Mike Bloomberg as our next president.”

As managing member and founder of Bayer Properties as well as handling a family partnership, it’s clear Rotenstreich is very busy. When asked how he and Bloomberg keep in touch, he said they only live six blocks away from each other, but obviously the mayor is even busier now so they email each other often.

That isn’t the only Birmingham connection to Bloomberg. Rosalie Lowy, a realtor for the Mountain Brook office of LAH, is originally from New Jersey. Her nephew, Hayden Horowitz, was CFO for one of Bloomberg’s mayoral campaigns and is now CFO for his presidential campaign. Lowy is proud of her nephew; impressed by how he balances a very high pressure job while still being a good family man.

Lowy, a professional singer and former director of membership for The Summit Club, says she believes Bloomberg wants to be president for all the right reasons, a strength of will and kindness of will, which balance each other out. She is enjoying networking and campaigning for Bloomberg.

Horowitz earned his undergraduate degree from University of Pennsylvania and his MBA and JD from Columbia. When Horowitz isn’t working for Bloomberg, he is a partner at Geller and Company, a wealth management firm headquartered in New York City. Horowitz says, “Mike really resonates with people; it’s a joy working with him because he is so organized, bright and data driven.”

Can Mike Bloomberg really win the presidency? There are those in Birmingham who think so.

community >> Agenda

continued from page 8

ence Room in the Barter Student Center. Speakers are Rabbi Howard Kosovske (Reform), Rabbi Steve Silberman (Conservative), and Rabbi Yosef Goldwasser (Chabad). Refreshments keeping with the dietary guidelines of the three Abrahamic faiths will be served.

The Sisterhood at Temple Beth El in Pensacola will have a centennial celebration at the 7 p.m. service on Feb. 28. Sisterhood members will participate in the service, and past presidents will be honored. A dinner with wine and appetizers will precede the service, at 5:30 p.m.

Reservations are $25.

The last Falafel Sunday of the school year at Beit Ariel Chabad in Birmingham will be March 1 at noon. The event includes all-you-caneat falafel, pita, Israeli salads, pizza and more. Cost is $12 per adult, $8 per child and $54 family maximum.

Board members from the University of Mississippi Hillel visited the State Capitol in Jackson on Jan. 27, where they delivered remarks on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Rep. Thomas Reynolds II invited the students, who did a reading of excerpts by Elie Wiesel, including his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

They also led an ecumenical prayer written for the anniversary by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Imam Qari Asim. Pictured here are House Speaker Philip Gunn, Hillel President Madeline Friedman, Francesca Kirdy, Jacob Goldberg, Sonya Dannenberg and Rep. Reynolds.

February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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community Mobile’s “rabbi laureate” dies Rabbi P. Irving Bloom also served in New Orleans, Anniston and Gadsden

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Rabbi Paul Irving Bloom, rabbi laureate of Springhill Avenue Temple in Mobile, who also served congregations in Anniston, Gadsden and New Orleans, died peacefully in Atlanta on Jan. 29. He was 88.

A native of Hattiesburg, Bloom spent most of his childhood in Vidalia, Ga., graduating from Vidalia High School in 1948. While in high school, his first job was as a radio announcer, earning $1 an hour. He briefly attended the University of Georgia before transferring to and then graduating from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in political science in 1952.

He remained in Cincinnati for full time study at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and was ordained a rabbi in 1956. He married Patricia Frankel in 1955.

While at HUC, Bloom served as a student rabbi in Charleroi, Pa., and then at Temple Beth-El in Anniston. Though Anniston wanted him after he was ordained, he fulfilled a commitment to serve as a chaplain in the United States Air Force in Germany from 1956 to 1958.

The Blooms visited bases in Germany, Holland, and France serving the Jewish Air Force personnel there. They were also able to travel to Israel to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the creation of the state.

After his military service, Bloom became assistant rabbi at Temple Sinai in New Orleans, under Rabbi Julian Feibelman, from 1958 to 1960. He then became rabbi of Springhill Avenue Temple until 1973.

While in Mobile, he was involved in many moments of the civil rights movement, and in 1966 he was one of a dozen Southern rabbis interviewed by P. Allen Krause about their civil rights era experiences in communities “of the almost possible” and “of the almost impossible.”

The interviews were done with the agreement that they would not be made public for 25 years; it was actually 50 years until the transcripts were published in “To Stand Aside or Stand Alone: Southern Reform Rabbis and the Civil Rights Movement.”

Bloom’s interview is in the “almost possible” category, describing Mobile as a place where progress was made, albeit incrementally.

While Bloom was a full time student at HUC he completed the course work for a Masters in Political Science which he ultimately completed in 1964 when he was motivated to write his thesis on the desegregation of the public schools in Mobile.

Bloom later accepted a position at Temple Israel in Dayton, Ohio and served that congregation from 1973 until his retirement in 1997.

Rabbi Bloom at his 2018 retirement in Anniston During the Dayton years, he held leadership positions in the three major organizations of the Reform Movement: The Union for Reform Judaism (formerly the Union of American Hebrew Congregations), the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and his alma mater, HUC. After retiring in 1997, he moved to Fairhope, then later to Atlanta. He continued serving as part-time rabbi, traveling approximately monthly to Beth Israel in Gadsden, until its closing in 2011, and to Temple Beth-El in Anniston, until he retired again in June 2018. The Blooms also spent many years serving on cruise ships as the cruise rabbi, and he felt the cruises gave him an opportunity to serve as a rabbi for people with many different backgrounds.

The Blooms were also active in the National Association of Retired Reform Rabbis, serving as its executive directors for four years. By coincidence, Rabbi Howard Kosovske, who currently serves at Springhill Avenue Temple, was just installed as president of the association.

Bloom is survived by his loving wife of almost 65 years, Patricia Frankel Bloom of Atlanta; children, Jonathan (Aurora) Bloom of Columbus, Ohio, and daughter, Judy (Jonathan) Minnen of Atlanta, Ga.; grandchildren, Michael Minnen, Molly Minnen and Ariel Bloom; nephew Michael J. Bloom of Buffalo, N.Y., and niece Nadine A. Bloom of Amsterdam, N.Y. He was preceded in death by his parents, Florence Kaplan Bloom and Herman Bloom, his brother Rabbi Samuel A. Bloom and his sister in law, Eleanor Nadel Bloom.

The funeral was held on Feb. 2 at the Springhill Avenue Temple Cemetery in Mobile. Memorials can be made to a synagogue or charity of your choice.

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Following Up on The Conversation It isn’t easy to have “the conversation,” but a forum on Jan. 28 at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home gave community members some help in broaching the subject about monumental life transitions when it comes to aging.

The program was held in coordination with Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans. Rachel Eriksen, director of clinical services at JFS, said the program dealt with how to start a conversation with family members and with one’s doctors, and how to overcome barriers and procrastination.

Eriksen added that Medicare now pays for Laura Zucker and JFS such meetings with medical professionals.

Executive Director Much of the presentation was done by Roselle Ungar Laura Zucker, medical director of Family Practice Group, a large practice of family care physicians in Arlington, Mass. She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Family Medicine, and Assistant Clinical Instructor and Professor at Tufts University and Harvard Medical School.

While Zucker said 92 percent of people think it is important to discuss end-of-life wishes, only 32 percent have done so with a family member, and only 18 percent have done so with a doctor. While 70 percent of people prefer to die at home, only 20 percent do.

The idea for the discussions is to “avoid a crisis and plan for the ‘what ifs’ across the life span so we can get on with living,” Zucker said. “Hope is not a plan.”

Zucker said the two most important documents are a health care proxy, who can legally make health care decisions in case of incapacity, and a living will or advanced directive/plan that gives preferences for medical care if unable to convey decisions.

She said there are numerous barriers to the needed conversations. For patients, barriers include fear of upsetting loved ones, pain, disability, loss or being forgotten. For clinicians, there is sometimes a lack of training, particularly in religious or spiritual needs of patients, cultural differences and a fear of dashing hope.

How does one broach the subject with relatives? Start with a story, or claim that a doctor or lawyer insisted.

Not having such discussions could lead to a need for immediate decisions — or guesses as to what the individual would have wanted — on a range of issues, from “housing, responsibility for the care of relatives, financial and legal matters, as well as advance planning for funerals, cremation or burial,” said Stephen Sontheimer of Lake Lawn. Furthermore, all family members need to be in on the conversations so there won’t be any disagreements on what someone “would have wanted.”

Sontheimer said many more questions were asked at a reception held at Lake Lawn after the presentation, and he has received many requests for information from the evening by those who had been unable to attend.

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• February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

Having worked in the senior care industry for more than 30 years, I have often found myself describing our assisted living and memory care communities as a home away from home. I’ve described it as a place that they will be proud to call home. I often talk about the feeling of family inside, the engagement and socialization that takes place on a daily basis, the entertainment features and guests, and how we will come to love our residents the same as the families that entrust them with us, and vice versa.

Although it sounds very appealing, and does relieve some of the guilt and emotional struggle that is often attached to making such a crucial decision in one’s life, it is often not the way the residents themselves feel at all.

After all, it is not really home.

A home is the roof that we grew up under, or where we raised our children and watched our grandchildren play and grow. Home is the sense of belonging, and home is the feeling that you get when you feel that sense of calmness and belonging to a particular place that makes you feel at peace.

So I’ve learned over the years to make sure that my prospective residents and families understand that although we know this is not home, we can do everything in our power to create such an exceptional experience that it absolutely creates a sense of belonging, participation and peace of mind. This peace of mind is not only for the residents we care for, but the many family members that we support and assist through this ever-changing journey.

A community needs to be as individual in the services it delivers as the residents that receive a particular service. No two residents are alike… no two families are the same… and, as my mother used to say when she was happily residing in assisted living, “there’s also 500 ways to fry chicken.” It’s important to find a place that understands this and aims to please.

As you search for the perfect community for you or your loved one, ask many questions, look for smiles, look for the warmth and welcoming that you will expect upon every visit. Look for professionalism. And most of all, look for a sense of “living” — music, art, socialization… Look for a place that can truly be considered the next best place to home.

As we marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz last month, we heard stories of heroism as prisoners helped each other to survive the atrocities. Their examples are a lesson to us about the responsibility of helping others, and heeding the words of the prophets, to help the widows, orphans and aliens, because we were once aliens. At the heart of all faith traditions are the commandments to help and serve.

Scientists have even confirmed molecular-level benefits to the body of meaningful activity like volunteering. C-reactive protein (CRP), a biological marker associated with inflammation and heart disease is often found in higher levels in older adults. However, CRP was found to be lower among older adults engaged in meaningful activity like volunteering and helping.

Helping others is also shown to contributing to longer lives. Dan

continued on page 24

February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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senior life We highly recommend Lisa as your realtor. She is energetic, efficient, knows her stuff, fast to respond and had an offer on our condo within the first day! Lisa knows the market well and does her research.

We called her regarding listing our condo and she was there the same day to get it going. The process was smooth and she communicates with you all the time to keep you posted. She goes out of her way to help you with the transition, the closing and with all the little things that mean a lot.

Get her as your realty agent, she is a winner!!!

— M & E Birrer

>> Volunteerism

continued from page 22

Buettner, author of the “Blue Zones,” identified being part of a faith community and having a purposeful life as some of the signature characteristics of the world’s longest-lived people. Helping others gives life purpose and meaning, and it makes you feel good, whether aiding your frail neighbor, being a Red Cross volunteer, working at a youth organization, or leading at the synagogue. Productive activities give us the satisfaction of knowing we are making a difference in the world.

Helping is part of our identity as Americans. Alexis de Tocqueville traveled the country in the 1830s and wrote the book “Democracy in America.”

In it, he said, “America is a nation of joiners” who form societies of volunteers to help each other. The same is true today. There are more opportunities than ever to serve in our communities by helping children, youth, older adults, the homeless and foreigners.

When we follow in the footsteps of heroic leaders in our faith traditions: helping, serving, volunteering, saving and defending others, it makes a difference in their lives, but it also inspires us emotionally and empowers us at a molecular level. It truly is more blessed to give than to receive.

Dan March is the executive director at Fair Haven, a continuum of care retirement community in Birmingham.

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

Seniors at Town Village Vestavia Hills enjoy keeping active at the retirement community, especially since residents get to plan many of the activities.

“Once per month, our seniors meet with our activities director to plan out the month,” said Town Village Vestavia Hills Marketing Director Desiree Soriano. “Our residents not only get to participate in activities and outings, but they also can let us know what programs they want us to offer.”

Some of those Lifetime Enrichment Programs include bringing in musicians and authors, as well as card games. The residents at Town Village have even led some of the programs.

“Sometimes they just enjoy hearing about their fellow residents’ amazing life accomplishments and old war stories,” said Soriano. “We even have three residents who are 100 years old or older.”

The community includes a heated indoor pool, and seniors enjoy water aerobics a few times a week. A few times per month, residents can also go on shopping outings or to the museums and Alabama Symphony Orchestra concerts.

Town Village has some Jewish residents. They and several non-Jewish residents enjoyed a Chanukah celebration this past December, led by Rabbi Barry Altmark. Evelyn Stern even brought her art Chanukiah she made years ago out of pink quartz.

“This really is a wonderful place to live,” she said. “We enjoy sharing our traditions and holiday celebrations with our residents here.” More than 30 people attended the Passover Seder in 2019, and the 2020 event is already in the works with the date to be determined.

Soriano said excellent dining options abound at Town Village. The main dining hall upstairs serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also have a farmer’s market upstairs, where residents can get fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables whenever they want. The bistro downstairs also offers some caféstyle dining options.

The community includes 222 one and two-bedroom apartments. For visiting family, a few units are available for rent. Town Village also is pet-friendly.

“We want to do whatever we can for our residents to provide a warm, inviting, fun environment, “ said Soriano, adding that February is “We Love Our Residents Month” with appreciation activities throughout the month.

“And our residents tell us they love being here. We even have several who volunteer as ambassadors with (prospective and new) residents.”

senior life

Caring for seniors… Right at Home Beau and Rachel Green started Right at Home senior care after experiencing first-hand the effect home care can have on family.

“We both have had family members who have suffered from memory loss and we understand how difficult it can be on the whole family,” said Beau Green, who opened Right at Home 2011 in Birmingham. They also have offices in Huntsville and Decatur.

“Through all of this we gained an appreciation of the rewards excellent home care can bring to a family,” he said.

Right at Home launched as a non-medical senior home care provider, and a few years ago, added skilled nursing.

“We’re there for them whatever they need every step of the way, whether it’s temporary care or long-term help,” said Green.

He said they also assist families with navigating and understanding their long-term care coverage plans. “We’re a private-pay care service, but insurance will reimburse some of the costs,” said Green.

“We can look at their policies and let them know what they have to work with. It some cases we’ve helped them get more reimbursement than they thought they could get. We’ve also helped them to understand, in some cases, that the long-term insurance could cover things such as medical alert services and home modifications.”

Right at Home employs skilled, licensed, trained caregivers and software to help match them with those they are providing care for based on geography, level of care needed as well as other factors. “Of course, the human element is always in the equation,” said Green. “It is our hope that our caregivers and our seniors become friends.”

He said that 70 percent of the time, a client calls and needs care to start the same day or the next day. For 35 percent of their clients, Right at Home provides care from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. “We have the experience and the trained team to get started right away and we’re truly a 24-hour service,” said Green.

The Greens serve on several boards and volunteer with organizations focused on improving the quality of life for seniors. They helped the Hoover Senior Center gain national accreditation with the National Institute of Senior Centers.

“We have a good relationship with Collat Jewish Family Services and we look forward to expanding it,” said Green.

“In some ways, we’re almost like a social worker. We’re invested in making sure seniors have the best care – whether they are a Right at Home client or not.”

Getting Ready for a Wedding?

Navigating the transition

by Julie Marcus Life expectancy has dramatically shifted over recent generations. Americans are now living well into their 80s and beyond. As we enjoy our golden years longer, it does not come without challenges. Medical needs are obvious. Also, housing becomes an issue as our mobility wanes. It is imperative to understand the needs of the resident, financial capability and what local options are available.

There are different levels of care in senior communities; independent, assisted, memory care and skilled nursing. It is not up to the family to determine which option. Instead the property will assess the potential resident and determine the best alignment based upon their daily living ability.

It is a misconception that Medicaid kicks in for senior living communities. Simply put, “it depends.” Residential living is private pay. Therefore, it’s imperative to start saving early!

The Birmingham market does provide numerous options. A few new facilities have recently opened, and more are on the way. Families often include proximately, faith base, financial concerns and pricing as primary factors. Of course, availability also helps!

Making the decision can be an emotional and stressful process. Planning and a grasp of expectations can lessen the burden that families experience.

It can shine a positive light on the process when expectations are understood up front.

Julie Marcus is principal of Senior Living Options, a consultant group for senior living housing options. She can be reached at (205) 910-1506 and julie@sl-options.com.

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community Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience returns this fall in New Orleans The opening of the reimagined Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience draws closer with the announcement that the New Orleans site will debut this fall.

“This will be the only museum in the country to focus exclusively on the history and culture of Jews across the South,” said Jay Tanenbaum, museum chairman.

Exhibits will explore the many ways Jews in the American South influenced and were influenced by the distinct cultural heritage of their communities, covering 13 states and more than 300 years of history — including Colonial, Civil War, World War II and the Civil Rights Movement.

Multi-media exhibits will illustrate how Jewish immigrants and succeeding generations adapted to life in the South, forming bonds of deep friendship and community with their non-Jewish neighbors. The museum will also address issues of race and anti-Semitism, and the many ways that Southern Jews navigated them at different times.

“Southern Jews have more often been a part of their communities than apart from them,” says Kenneth Hoffman, executive director. “This contrasts with America’s urban immigration centers where Jews formed more insular enclaves. The contributions they made and the acceptance they received attest to something unique in the Southern heart.”

The museum was established in the late 1980s as small Southern communities sent their religious objects and records to the Henry S. Jacobs Camp in Utica. The museum opened at the Reform movement summer camp, and some of the items, such as the ark, were used by campers during the summer.

As the museum grew, it spun off into the Jackson-based Goldring/ Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which provides an array of services to Jewish communities in 13 Southern states.

As the camp needed space, the museum was closed in 2012 and its collection was put into storage. Tanenbaum said “In order to reimagine and grow, the museum separated from the Institute, giving it the independence to become a world-class attraction.”

After a few years of discussion, it was decided to reestablish the museum in New Orleans, because of the city’s vibrant tourism economy, long Jewish history and the historical connection to the broader Southern region.

The museum will be located in the city’s popular “Museum District,” in proximity to the National WWII Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Contemporary Art Center — conveniently located on the historic St. Charles Avenue streetcar line by where it turns from Howard Street onto Carondelet, and on the walking path between the museums and the Oretha Castle Haley redevelopment.

The museum’s collection of over 7,000 artifacts was transferred to New Orleans, where it was re-catalogued and put into “best practices” storage. Due to space, a small fraction of the items will be displayed at any particular time.

Multi-media exhibits will illustrate how Jewish immigrants and succeeding generations adapted to life in the South, forming bonds of deep friendship and community with their non-Jewish neighbors. The Museum will also address issues of The museum site on Howard Street 26

February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

see

sip

A rendering of planned exhibits race and anti-Semitism, and the many ways that Southern Jews navigated them at different times.

The museum is working with Gallagher and Associates, an internationally recognized museum planning and design firm, responsible for award-winning experiences at scores of international projects including the National Museum of American Jewish History, the National College Football Hall of Fame, and in New Orleans, the Sazerac House and the National World War II Museum.

The experience will start by entering through the storefront, a tribute to the common experience of Southern Jews who started as peddlers and worked their way until they could open a physical store.

An orientation film will be screened in a 60-seat theater that can also be used for lectures and other film programs.

The current plan is for the museum to be divided into three sections with an open floor plan and islands of exhibits. The first, about the 18th and 19th centuries, starts with the small Jewish communities of Colonial times and move through waves of immigration. Part of it will be devoted to Jews, race and the Civil War. “We’re not going to shy away from uncomfortable history,” Hoffman said.

Part of the first section will be about “Becoming Southern.” Hoffman said that after one was able to start making a living, “you could start being civically minded and philanthropic.” This area will mention Jewish mayors and other contributions to civic life.

The second area will be in what used to be an open-air atrium. This section will explore and describe Judaism, life cycle events, holidays and texts, using items from the museum’s collection as illustrations. There will be a Torah displayed. “It’s not a kosher Torah but it is a historic Torah from a Southern congregation,” Hoffman said.

The third section will explore the 20th century, including how Southern Jews responded to the Holocaust and Zionism, along with Jewish activism during the civil rights era and for Soviet Jewry.

The exhibit will also explore the “changing landscape” as small-town Jewish communities started to fade. There will also be explorations of Southern Jews in popular culture, including Jewish characters in works

by Harper Lee, William Faulkner and Mark Twain.

Interactive stations will have more resources about each of the 13 represented states.

The final stop before the gift shop will be an interactive project about the strength of diversity in a community.

Hoffman said “Our hope is that visitors come away with an expanded understanding of what it means to be a Jew, what it means to be a Southerner, and ultimately, what it means to be an American.”

The grand opening will be announced in plenty of time to allow people to come to New Orleans for it. Hoffman urges everyone to follow the museum on Facebook, sign up for the newsletter and share their stories with the museum.

see

Sip

Bird savor smell

The museum unveiled the Mezuzah Society, where those donating $1,800 and up are recognized with an artistic installation made up of mezuzahs they send to the museum, and they receive a specially-designed mezuzah, hand made by glass artist Andrew Jackson Pollack in New Orleans.

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The Bright Star

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Sprinkle fish on both sides with salt and pepper to taste and grill for six to eight minutes (or until fish flakes easily with a fork), turning once. Remove fish from skillet. Cover to keep warm.

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

Mixed vegetables ½ pound baby carrots Eight ounces of fresh spinach leaves One bunch of asparagus, chopped with stems removed Place a steamer basket in a pot large enough to hold the vegetables, but not so large that they will fall over the sides of the basket. Fill the bottom of the pot with a small amount of water. Add vegetables and cover. Place on high heat until they begin to steam. Reduce heat to low and let steam for two to three minutes.

Bright Star Restaurant

by Lee J. Green The Bright Star hosts sports and entertainment world stars at the Bessemer restaurant, which has created quite a legacy since first opening in 1907.

“We continue honoring our tradition and giving people that Bright Star experience they have come to know and love,” said General Manager Stacey Craig. “At the same time, we continue to keep things new and fresh through specials, new events and adding to our drink menu” with some new cocktails as well as craft beers.

Craig said 2019 was a year of transition, and they will continue to honor the memory of her uncle Jimmy Koikos every day. Koikos and his brother, Nicky, co-owned The Bright Star for many years and Jimmy had been a regular presence at the restaurant since January 1960. Last April, Jimmy Koikos was diagnosed with cancer and he passed away in November.

“We miss him terribly,” said Craig. “But we know he is still with us in spirit every single day.”

Nicky Koikos is still working full-time. Craig and her cousin, Executive

community >> Rear Pew Mirror

continued from page 30

never come late enough. The Torah mentions the first of Nisan every year.

The New Year for Animals has gone to seed, and is no longer observed.

(It has no relation to the common fall celebration for animals, linked to the Torah reading of Noah, for which people bring their pets to temple dressed as formally as they let their kids dress for services.)

For a long time, Tu B’Shevat’s observance was truncated. But thanks to the popularity of planting trees in Israel, the popularity of Tu B’Shevat still may pull ahead of other holidays. The many Jews who pine for more entertaining Jewish activities would find this okay.

Regardless, by accounting for the Torah, the regular calendar, animals, and trees, the Talmud leaves no stone unturned.

Doug Brook is a writer in Silicon Valley who believes that every day is the first day of a new year, which explains his behavior the night before.

For more information, past columns, other writings, and more, visit http:// brookwrite.com/. For exclusive online content, follow facebook.com/rearpewmirror.

>> Bright Star

continued from page 28

Chef Andreas Anastassakis, continue to be involved in the day-to-day management of the restaurant as they have for the past 10 years. In addition, The Bright Star named new front-of-the-house managers — Sonya Twitty, Brenda Salser and Brett Collins — who have long-term ties with the restaurant.

“We have a wonderful team at the restaurant. You can expect no change in the quality of food and service,” she said.

Last year, The Bright Star added a couple of booths to the 1907 room.

Legendary Alabama Crimson Tide Head Football Coach Nick Saban has eaten at the restaurant many times and now has a place of honor by the Paul “Bear” Bryant booth.

After legendary Alabama and Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr passed away, his wife Cherry donated memorabilia for the Bart Starr booth, also located in the 1907 room.

Both neon signs at the entrance and exit of The Bright Star were renovated in 2019. “We continue to preserve our history through restoration and renovation,” said Craig. The restaurant’s marble floors remain a fixture. Murals and chandeliers have been restored over the years. The Bright Star moved into its current downtown Bessemer location in 1915.

The menu continues to offer kosher-style favorites including Greek tenderloin, Greek snapper, fresh-cooked Southern vegetables, several salads, macaroni and cheese, pies as well as the Grilled Atlantic Salmon.

“We’ll add some specials in from time to time and bring in some vegetables while they are in season,” said Craig. They also have a special menu planned for their $100 Wine Dinner on Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m., featuring wines by Sean Minor and a multi-course menu Anastassakis has concocted.

The Bright Star accommodates 300 guests, including a banquet room for up to 100 people. The restaurant also offers seven private dining rooms and booths for small groups.

In addition to some of the Alabama rooms, there is also an Auburn-themed one. “People can reserve the rooms ahead of time, but they don’t have to. If it’s available, they can sit there,” added Craig.

The Bright Star’s walls are lined with photographs of family owners, employees and famous customers. Regular guests at The Bright Star over the years have included singers and actors who are from or have visited Alabama, sports stars and coaches. Ever since he was hired in the spring of 2019, Alabama Head Basketball Coach Nate Oats has been a regular.

“We have been and will always be a destination restaurant,” said Craig.

“We’re all about tradition and family here.”

We work tirelessly to help kids get well because Hugh has a long list of stuff he wants to do.

WE DO WHAT WE DO BECAUSE CHILDREN HAVE DREAMS.

1 6 0 0 7 T H AV E N U E S O U T H B I R M I N G H A M , A L 35233 (205) 638-9100 ChildrensAL.org

February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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rear pew mirror • doug brook

Crazy Etz This column first ran in February 2012. Let’s see if you laugh this time…

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The rabbis in the Talmud knew how to party.

Why else would Judaism have not one, not two, not three, but four New Year festivals designated in its calendar? And that doesn’t even include the Rocking Eve one that the Talmudic rabbis established for their contemporary, Rabbi Richard Clark. Or the Chinese New Year (which we observe for the food).

Top scholars point out that four New Year celebrations is a surprisingly small number, given the Talmudically mandated two-rabbis-to-threeopinions ratio, plus how many rabbis are in the Talmud.

Rosh Hashanah is the best-known New Year festival, particularly by Jewish posteriors near the end of the second day’s sermon. Of course, the rabbis had to compound matters by giving this first of four New Year festivals four names: Rosh Hashanah (The Head of Shauna), Yom HaDin (The Day of Dean), Yom HaZikaron (I forget this one), and Yom Teruah (The Day of Being True).

Rosh Hashanah, observed on the first of Tishrei (and celebrated once the service is finally over), commemorates the creation of the world.

However, despite festivizing the first day of Existence, this New Year festival was not the first to Exist.

The Torah tells us that the New Year is on the first of Nisan, 15 days before Passover. Not only does the first of Nisan mark the New Year for Japanese automobiles, this biblically ordained New Year also used to measure the reigns of kings (the ones who actually ruled longer than a year).

The rabbis decided to have the bigger New Year service on Rosh Hashanah instead of the first of Nisan when their spouses pointed out that necessitating Rosh Hashanah-size dining two weeks before Passover could induce a new rabbinical practice of sleeping on the couch.

The least-known New Year is on the first of Elul, one month before Rosh Hashanah. What might seem like a warmup for Rosh Hashanah is really the New Year for Animals. Specifically, animal tithes.

In Talmudic times, people would dress their animals in suits and tithes to go to Jerusalem and pay their taxes before their second IRS extension expired. (Some Jews still observe this practice today, without going to Jerusalem. And without bringing the animals, though some still dress them up.)

The fourth New Year is on the 15th of Shevat: Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for Trees. This holiday first took root in the Mishnah, as the rabbis decided that the New Year observances should branch out.

The rabbis were stumped about what date to use. Their seemingly endless debate finally bore fruit, as they scheduled it based on when winter rains are over. Talmudic scholars are tied in knots figuring out where those rabbis lived that they thought the rains end by then, but wherever they were they must have stayed indoors.

Tu B’Shevat traditions included a special rite with the Cohns, which incorporated their famous salute with open palms. However, after the rabbis got needled by the masses, they saw that this was a holiday to usher in spring and get one’s hands dirty. The rabbis accepted that they were barking up the wrong tree.

The fates of the four New Years are quite varietal. Rosh Hashanah can

When is the New Year?

Which one?

continued on previous page 30

February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life

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February 2020 • Southern Jewish Life